Hansons-Brooks Distance Project to Return to Boston Marathon

Over the past seven years, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project of Rochester, Mich., has emerged as the preeminent marathon training group in the nation.

Nowhere was this status more obvious than at the 2006 Boston Marathon, when men from the Hansons program took the city by storm, placing fourth, 10th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 19th and 22nd.

All five Hansons-Brooks women will return in two months to compete in the 2007 Boston Marathon. Melissa White (2:39:21 PR), Dot McMahan (2:43:27 PR) and Yolanda Flamino (2:45:19 PR) have already run U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifying standards, while Desiree Davila (debut) and Kelly Stewart (2:58:21 PR) will be attempting to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Boston. The women will be competing for overall Boston Marathon prize money and a separate prize money purse for U.S. women.

Accompanying the team to Boston this week will be Hansons-Brooks co-founders Keith and Kevin Hanson. The brothers, who own a chain of running shoe stores in Michigan, founded the Distance Project in 2000 with the goal of giving something back to the sport. They now own several houses for the team, and provide travel, coaching and part-time jobs for 22 athletes.



Source: B.A.A.